Made Your Bed
by anticute
Summary: In response to Favreau's initial ideas for IM2 opening scene. When he wakes up, he finds himself unpleasantly beside Pepper Potts. Moviesverse, obvs.
1. The Situation

jfsaf. this is so terrible and full of cliches, but. you know what? YOU KNOW WHAT.

insert: I DO WHAT I WHAT GIF.

seriously. when that news came out abotu Favreau's ideas of opening scene for IM2, i was like: "SOMEONE IS WRITING FIC. THEY MUST BE. AND IT WON'T BE ME BECAUSE I WILL DO NO JUSTICE"

and yet.

and YET.

HERE WE ARE.

WHY ME. WHY.

**MADE YOUR BED**  
>pseudonymosity  
><em>In response to Favreau's initial ideas for IM2 opening scene. When he wakes up, he finds himself unpleasantly beside Pepper Potts.<em>

* * *

><p>When he wakes up, he finds himself unpleasantly beside Pepper Potts.<p>

Not that it's not pleasant to be beside Pepper on a general basis (well, depends on her mood and whether he's willing to deal with a steaming Potts). It's just and only unpleasant because it's him and her and them. Together. In his bed.

He freaks out, naturally. Like, what's he going to do?

First. He scrambles quietly out of bed (recall he is still freaking out a great deal and quietly is not really a possibility when you're Tony Stark; on top of that - you just apparently woke up with Pepper Pott_s_) and dashes into his bathroom.

Second. He turns on the shower, just for the noise (never mind California's water crisis) because he didn't really scramble as quietly as he wanted and he knows - fears, really - Pepper has woken up; this way, he has this barrier to keep her at bay. She knows - lives by - boundaries.

Clearly he doesn't live by boundaries. Never has, frankly, but he thought he knew some form, or had a semblance of an understanding, of how to respect Pott- Fuck. Not Potts. Ms. Potts. _Ms._ (Any other time is fine to be informal with your PA, Tony. Not right now. You have been informal enough. More than. _Obviously.)_ And last night and this Morning After, show that he clearly doesn't understand boundaries at all. And he's scared, upset - because this Morning After has evidence that he doesn't respect her.

(He knows she doesn't, didn't, hadn't, wanted him in the way he wants her and really - he respects that. He respects her. Even if it seriously tests his restraint and patience. Both of which he really has very, very little of in the first place. He's used to instant gratification.)

And damn it, there are very few things he's sure of in his post-multiple-life-crises world right now. He thought his respect for her was, at the very least, one of the last Sure Things (Rhodey being another Sure Thing. Sort of. It's complicated.) Something of his character and understanding of himself, to hold on for its certainty and security - while he's changing and becoming ready to be the man he's trying to commit himself to be.

And he's not one with a history for commitment.

Which makes this thing with Pepper even _worse._

He's panicking too much right now to really list his gameplan numerically - which is no gameplan, at all. So. What he does next is get JARVIS - volume on quiet, and truly, JARVIS can be quiet - and the cams on to check on the status of the hopefully sleeping beauty. (Not that he's any Prince Charming. Or for that matter, nor is she any Princess or Damsel. Potts would kill him for these thoughts. But she'll probably kill him anyway _when she wakes up.)_

Pepper's still asleep.

And Tony hurriedly averts his eyes.

Tony also has to quickly push aside a thought that just affirms how much he hates his damn libido, hates _this._ Because Shit - he momentarily regrets forgetting the definitely hot details (then again, they were drunk, so maybe it was just a mess of events, but he sustains it _had_ to be hot because it's _Pepper_ and damn it, he has a reputation) of the Midnight Before. Assuming it...this...things, occurred at midnight. But he's not going to think much of it. _He's not._

He absolutely refuses to acknowledge his train of thought and shoves them into isolation and repression. This is mainly encouraged by the more pertinent, significant thought that: Damn it. God. Pepper, as a female, as a human being, deserves so much more than his selfish, sordid thoughts. It's one thing to be flirty with her and toss witty innuendos at her. It's another entirely to be this level of stupidity and selfishness. Be selfish elsewhere, Tony. Not this Morning. Not. This. Morning.

* * *

><p>"Backtrack, what?"<p>

"IwokeupwithPepperinbed."

"No."

"No?"

Rhodey's tone - that of finite and dismissive (willful ignoring) - makes Tony stare incredulously at him, as well as in horror. Because Rhodey clearly is deaf. He must have heard what he said. Either that, or has just called Tony a liar (why in _hell_ would he lie about this?) He has JARVIS monitoring Pepper and he can easily prove, _show_ Rhodey wrong. And while Tony loves proving people wrong and himself right - this is not that kind of situation.

"No. You didn't. It must have been another redhead. You're sick like that, Tony. Sick. So, no, you didn t wake up with her. And and we ll just call Pepper to confirm, right? Right."

And just as Rhodey reaches over for his own phone from his pocket, Tony lunges forward and reflexively makes a grab for said device. He then hurriedly and carelessly tosses it away somewhere behind them. They both turn to look, as the phone slides smoothly across the floor and slips into some crevice under a bookshelf, spinning for a few short seconds before stopping. Tony and Rhodey then look at each other - with this strange combo of surprise and shock.

Surprise is more mild than shock, really. Shock was this Morning. Surprise is... Tony has no relevant examples for Surprise, because he's too much in Shock. And seeing as how wide-eyed Rhodey is deliberately moving far away from him, Rhodey's starting to feel some effects of said Shock, too. Tony tries to grab for Rhodey's arm in attempts to stop Rhodey from retrieving his phone and/or keep Rhodey from going too far as some retreat from Tony.

"No," Tony says with a heavy breath, heavy conscience, heavy consciousness, "No. You're not going to call her because she's still in bed, asleep, and then she'll wake up. Or not. Maybe she won't. She didn't wake up when I left. And I thought Pepper was a light sleeper - she's always complained about it. Or ...Or. Fuck. Oh, fuck. I- _Fuck._

His covenant to not at all think about the Midnight Before in the same vein of obscene selfishness witnessed earlier this Morning After, is broken because Tony is stupid. And he's male. And he's Tony. And he's just inexcusably stupid.

(It doesn't help at all that Pepper is inexcusably hot. Wrongly so. But if Pepper being hot is wrong, then really - really, he needs to check himself back into school. Because nothing about the whole entirety of her existence is wrong: physically, mentally, every bit of her, as-cliche-and-corny-as-that-may-be. Except the part of her that insists on turning off his music.)

He swallows hard, "This would be a bad time to say 'Damn, I'm good', right?"

_"Yes,"_ Rhodey hisses. And it's a rebuke all the same, especially in the violent way Rhodey snatches his arm away and moves away from him. Far. Away.

God, Tony - you must be a masochist because you're actually glad Rhodey's looking like he's about to machete your balls (actually, Rhodey could do much worse, given his military connections) - because that must mean Rhodey's pissed at you, and if he's pissed at you - then he cares about you (and Pepper, of course. In fact, he may like Pepper more than you.) And that must mean he and you are still friends.

Tony needs to hold on to something Sure and certain right now. Because this whole thing with Pepper is jerking a lot of things drastically to Unsure. Rhodey and he used to be Sure, before the whole Ironman thing. But now they are Sort of Sure, again. And he's replacing Pepper's Unsure with Rhodey's Sort of Sure.

But he's still messed up as hell. Because this warped logic doesn't equate to any sort of damage control for the situation. Pepper does damage control. Rhodey does damage control. Stane used to, but he's not much of a relevant aspect in his life these days (or ever again.) And the former two seem to be out of the running for fixing his problems at present.

(Well. One problem among many.)

...Maybe Happy?

"God, Tony! Slept with Pepper and don't remember a damn thing! You're not sick. You're- You're beyond sick."

(Considering the toxins in his system, yes. But putting that aside.)

Tony groans into his hands as he slumps back onto the couch, as Rhodey hits the certain - right - words with the exact emphasis to make him feel worse and better at the same time. Masochist.

"And you left her. In your bed. You are doubly beyond sick," Rhodey continues, actual spit along with his words, "What happens when she does wake up, you idiot? Huh? What then, you ass?"

"Maybe she won't," Tony says, perking up as if some inane hypothesis, "Maybe this is just... You know. One of those really vivid dream- OW. Did you just pinch me?"

Rhodey is incredulous: pinching is hardly what Tony needs to be distressed over.

"Pepper will do much worse if you don't get back there. I will do much worse. We both will. And JARVIS. And the bots."

It's a little unfair how much everyone likes Pepper.

* * *

><p>it takes two to tango, really - so tony and rhodey shouldn' tbe placing the blame on him only.<p>

BUT I DIDN'T KNWO WHERE TO INSERT THAT IN THE FIICC.

so let it be known, i find fault on both sides.


	2. A Scenario of Sorts

so when i wrote Made Your Bed, i didn't have any determinate ending for the question: did they or didn't they. with that, i wasn't intending to do a second piece to follow the one-shot. even while i had reviews asking for a conclusion - i didn't want to. i wanted to leave it as it was.

then somehow, at night, i ended up writing this. it is a Scenario of Sorts that only presents one answer to the question. it is not really MY answer. but it's a VERSION of what could have happened.

that said. it's not the best that it could be, in terms of characterization or even "plot". so i apologize for any cringing that may occur.

**Made Your Bed: A Scenario of Sorts**  
>Tony's not really as courageous as people think he is. He just has poor self-preservation skills. A version of a follow-up to Made Your Bed, the fic in which Tony woke up with Pepper in his bed, and the question of what really happened.<p>

* * *

><p>By the time Rhodey and Tony return to the Stark estate, Tony has made his semi-peace with what may have happened the Night Before. He hates how it happened, hates that it's a confirmation of things about himself that he's too hungover to really think about right now, but it's happened. And accountability is his lifestyle now.<p>

"Nothing happened."

Pepper's voice is clear, sharp, and cool when the two walk into the living room.

Tony feels like he's that gangly young teenager that would hide behind Rhodey whenever he saw fit - a time when Tony just wanted to hide from everyone looking at him like he was some marvel and while he _was_ a marvel and remains to be a marvel - he wasn't comfortable with all of it quite yet. It was during his early years at MIT. And plus: hormones. He has to actually fight the instinct, to jump back, and push Rhodey in front of him.

"Pepper!" Rhodey says, nervously, "h... Hey! I...just thought I'd drop by."

God, Rhodey sucks at ly-

"Rhodey, you are a terrible liar. He went to you, didn't he? When he woke up?"

Rhodey swallows, "He made me stay on the phone with him as he drove to my place. I was worried as hell, Pepper. But. Uh. Then he...told me-"

"Nothing. Happened."

Tony furrows his brow, wonders if maybe this is the famous Pepper Potts method of deflection at play. That she is just denying what clearly happened because that's how Pepper-

Rhodey's nudging him. And _damn_ Rhodey has a bony elbow. Serious-

"Tony. Do. Not. Space out when I'm talking to you."

"We definitely had sex." Tony blurts out, "...Right? I think we had sex. No. We definitely did."

Pepper narrows her eyes, tightens the line of her lips.

Rhodey has suddenly left his side, opting for a seat far away from him. So much for moral support.

There's a whir behind Tony and suddenly, there's Dummy with a tray - Pepper's favorite mug filled with steaming coffee. She takes it with a warm smile at Dummy, before leaning back against the couch, hands folded around the mug. Tony swallows at the small sliver of leg that reveals itself with her movements, before Pepper covers it up with a shift of her robe.

"Tony Stark. I am telling you - _nothing happened_."

Tony blinks, "But-"

"As much as Rhodey is a terrible liar, am I any better?"

Tony frowns, noting that - his ability to detect her lying (which really isn't an ability at this point) indicates: no. She hasn't been lying.

"Nothing happened?"

"Nothing happened," Pepper says firmly, though he _does_ note how she's doing that lip thing. And _that_ indicates...something.

Damn - really? No sex? Like. At least some making out? Come on.

"No," she says plainly, "none of that happened either."

Oh. He said that out loud. But wait. There's that lip thing again - Pepper's lying.

"You have _such_ a hangover," Rhodey says with a groan, "and definitely going to die. And then I'll be a witness. Or even an accomplice."

Fuck. He keeps voicing his thoughts.

Pepper only sighs, "Tony. Nothing happened."

Bummer.

She takes another breath, eyes closed, fingers flexing against the porcelain of the mug.

"You have a hangover too? Maybe we _did_ but you don't remember, 'cause I don't remember either. Which is, again, a bummer."

"Even if we _did,_ I would prefer not to discuss this-"

"-nothing, at all?"

"Tony. Shut up. Even if we did, I would prefer not to discuss this with Rhodey in the room."

"I can leave-"

"Nothing happened," Pepper cuts, a sharp look at Rhodey. To which the man actually _wilts_ in his seat. And there's Butterfingers and tray, offering him his own mug of coffee and some french toast.

And damn that bot-girl, she whirs towards Tony with not coffee, but-

Pepper says, "There's a glass of that...green stuff, that you like, for you. No coffee, Tony. Not with your hangover."

"Okay. Fine," he mutters bitterly as he clinks the glass against Butterfingers' arm, "cheers."

Butterfingers just glides back to stand beside her Dummy brother.

Tony moves to sit on the armrest of Rhodey's sofa, (to which Rhodey protests, "Man, don't sit next to me!") "What did happen. 'Cause this is seriously bumming me out."

(He's petulant, he knows. It's just: he was prepared for the worst. And this is not what he was prepared for.)

Pepper glowers at him, "And what would make you feel less 'bummed' out? If something /had/ happ- No. Don't answer that. Look. You got drunk last night."

Rhodey whistles, "Big surprise."

"He wanted to invite you over," Pepper looks to Rhodey again, "but you didn't answer your phone. And lately, Tony's been so popular on the news, that I suggested maybe he _shouldn't_ go out. And just stay home and...tinker. On my part, I had work left over, so I had to stay."

"And," she brings the mug to her lips, but winces and pulls away slightly at the hotness of the drink, "as per usual - you...were you. You had some alcohol. Then you ended up drinking... A lot. JARVIS failed to monitor you appropriately."

"I apologize," JARVIS tunes.

"-and there were no girls around... So. Yes. You made drunken passes at me. And...everything else around you. Poor You might be a little traumatized. And JARVIS may or may not have a...interesting conversation logged, that occurred between the both of you."

Rhodey snickers from his side, "Big surprise."

Tony looks at Rhodey, "Hey. What's that supposed to mea- No. Wait. And then what. Then, you ended up naked in my bed? _Potts!"_

"I was not naked in your bed. Whatever you saw-"

"You have _incredible_ thighs."

There's a muffled groan from Rhodey's side and Pepper stares at Tony.

"...Just so you know." Tony continues bluntly.

Tony's not really as courageous as people think he is. He just has poor self-preservation skills.

She takes another moment to just breathe and compose herself before proceeding.

"...-whatever you _thought_ you saw, was not me naked. You know if I work too late, I might as well not drive home. And I wore shorts last night-"

"To my bed."

"Tony. It was _my_ bed."

"Oh. So I was naked. In your bed."

"You were in your boxers."

"...That means nothing."

"That means everything. You sleep. In your boxers, Tony."

"Sometimes less," Rhodey supplies in a low mutter.

"Exactly. Rhodey's been with you for _decades_ so he can attest that even if you _were_ naked - that doesn't mean anything."

"So nothing...happened."

"What did happen was this: I was sleeping, you were loudly singing outside my door, and I'm a light sleeper, as you know. I was exhausted, irritated, with you, with work. I dragged you into the guest room, to sleep on the couch because I was too exhausted and irritated to drag you somewhere else. Somehow," she glares at him, "you ended up sleeping in my bed. I don't know how. I don't want to know, frankly. JARVIS informs me you didn't do anything-"

Rhodey snorts, "If he was that drunk, he wouldn't be able to do a thing, Pep."

Pepper smiles - the first - at Rhodey, and Rhodey just beams because that means he will not be killed This Morning. Tony, on his part, is just sulking and in fact, feeling entirely guilty with this reveal of the Night Before. He hadn't really meant to drink away the night, honestly. Habits die hard.

"JARVIS also informed me you had left the premises, shortly after waking up in my bed. And everything was very clear to me. The question is: is everything clear to you?"

Tony drinks down his green gunk and just says, "Yeah."

(Yeah. Everything's clear. Again, he reiterates he _hates_ this. Because he should be better than this. And he isn't.

Pepper's a Sure Thing again. And Rhodey's a Sure Thing.

He's still an Unsure Thing. He's always going to be the Unsure Thing.

Bummer.)

There are sips at coffees, bots whirring, the trickle of water. Rhodey's taken to reading the newspaper and Pepper's at her phone. Tony is tumbling, tossing, his glass cup between his hands back and forth, as he mulls; the remains of the green glob, dripping on the carpet and drying over now sticky palms.

* * *

><p>not happy with this one. might revisit some stuff i want better written later.<p> 


End file.
